 Search engine optimization (SEO) has seen a lot of changes in the last couple of years. For online marketers and business owners, SEO is absolutely essential for the continued growth of your business whether you own a brick and mortar store or your business is strictly online.
What's Local SEO and Why is it Vital to Local Businesses? For local businesses, onHaving reviews about products that a business sells will give customers an insight into how to tell if they want the product. According to Podium, consumers who used to rely on word-of-mouth recommendations now rely on online reviews. In fact, over 80% of consumers trust reviews as much as they trust recommendations from family and friends.line visibility is more important than you think. With more and more people using their mobile phones to find products and services near them, if you don't ensure that they can find your business online easily, you risk getting left behind. Local SEO offers an effective way to market yourself online. It helps local businesses promote their products and services to local customers exactly when they're seeking them. While local SEO involves boosting your website's rank on the search engines, it also involves using listings like Google My Business, Bing Places for Business, Yelp, and others. It also helps you understand the value of localized website content, online reviews, and more. The Five Best-Kept Secrets of Local SEO The subject of local SEO is an enormous topic with many different features and aspects. We've selected five of the most crucial local SEO factors that will improve the visibility of your business online and your search engine ranking. Knowing the most important local SEO factors to focus on will give your business an advantage over your competition. 1. Citations Citations are online listings or references to your business that will include the name, address, and phone number (NAP). Listings in business directories or review sites for your industry are both examples of citations sources. Consistency is crucial when dealing with citations. Take advantage of high-profile directories by listing your business with them. Don't waste your time on smaller or newer ones until they have a good rank and some authority. Just make certain that your NAP follows an identical format for each and every listing. If there are changes, make sure you have a list of each citation so that you can keep all of them updated and matching. 2. Google My Business Creating a Google My Business (GMB) listing is very important. Once you've created your listing, make sure your profile is optimized:
When we refer to linking, we mean the inbound links to your business website and the value assigned to each. Links to your business website are good, but not all links are equal. The following factors are taken into consideration by search engines when assigning links value:
Reviews matter. Online reviews are extremely important when it comes to local SEO. For one thing, they offer valuable feedback from customers that can be used to make improvements by wise business owners. On occasion, businesses can use reviews to reach out to unhappy customers and turn them into happy customers. Some of the major online review platforms you'll want to monitor:
5. On-Page SEO As they are in traditional SEO, on-page SEO techniques are vital in local SEO too. Your business website's content should provide value to your local audience and prospective clients. Ensure your content includes targeted keywords and long-tail keywords, but again, don't overdo it. The following page elements should be properly optimized to include relevant keywords.
Takeaway The five local SEO secrets above should give you a great place to get started on building or revamping your business's online marketing efforts. Remember to be patient because the benefits of SEO when done well take time. Finally, measure your results carefully so that you'll know which of your efforts are really paying off and which you shouldn't waste any more resources on.
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 If you find that your marketing team is turning out stale, un-creative ideas, then it might be time to rethink the way that you foster creativity. Below, you will find 4 ways that you can get more creativity out if your advertising team.
Rethink Your Brainstorming Sessions The first strategy for getting more creativity out of your advertising team is rethinking the way you brainstorm. Generally, teams gather in a room and throw ideas around until they land on a good idea. However, not every member of a team is built for this kind of public, sometimes stressful interaction. You might find that only one or two people are doing the brainstorming while others sit back and watch. Instead, try pairing your team together in smaller groups, including those who maybe don’t usually work together or teaming up the quieter team members so that they get heard better. Design Collaborative Workspaces Another way to get prompt creativity is to change the physical space your team operates in. Emerging research suggests that creativity is a principally collaborative enterprise. Taking this research at face value, team leaders can design workspaces that facilitate "collisions" or unplanned interactions, from which creative spontaneity and innovation can emerge. Forget about sectioning off your employees into lonely cubicles, and instead opt for open spaces and multi-purpose rooms that bring your team together. You never know what unplanned interactions can lead to the next great idea. Be Open to Different Ways of Working Not everyone learns or thinks in the same way, so why should force your marketing team to work in the same way? A traditional 9-5 workday may be hindering the creativity of your team. Instead, you can offer work from home opportunities or allow your team to work their preferred hours. Of course, a fair bit of accountability and supervision will be necessary, but you could find that new ideas flourish when your team is working in the way that works best for them. Avoid Micromanaging Last, the worst thing you can do to stifle creativity in your team is to constantly micromanage them. Hovering over your team, controlling every decision, and leading every discussion can make your advertising team feel as if their input and ideas aren't welcome or needed. The best strategy for fostering creativity is actually allowing your team to be creative, to make mistakes, and to work towards their best ideas. You can up your advertising team’s creativity by rethinking the way you brainstorm, designing workplaces that prompt collaboration, being open to new ways of working, and by taking a step back and letting your team get creative on their own. Need a website with a design that actually gets people’s attention? Hire us today!  With experience of running a business, one learns that the website is the face of its business, and is very important for the company's success and growth. It is the key platform where your business interacts with leads and clients. Your website design needs to work for you. You should probably ask these questions.
Design of your website is the main component of lead generation. Most of the successful business websites have the following four aspects in their website design: 1. Content of the website should be professionally written. Content writers can help to create quality content for your website with their unique talent of writing and expertise in marketing and selling services to buyers. If you want to have an increase in the leads generated from your website make sure it’s written by a professional content writer, otherwise you won’t be able to reach the targeted audience. Content writers use the following tactics to increase the lead:
2. Website design oriented towards lead generation. Every website should be designed for a specific purpose and have a clear "cal-to-action", in our case it is to generate quality leads. An experienced web developer understands the importance of the good website design. If your website is well designed it will lead the user to the contact section which will add conversions. Without a thoughtful web design, users may lose interest. Make sure you give importance to these issues while designing a professional website.
3. Websites need to be search engine optimized. Every business owner knows the importance of search engine optimization (SEO). It’s very helpful to succeed for a business by ranking it high on search engines. The design, content and key words linking with your service gives good results when we talk about lead generation. While launching a website, good use of key words, structure and solid back end is just not enough for ranking. Social marketing is also very important. 4. Superiority in Website Functionality. You won’t be able to get a lot of reach if your website is broken, not updated and slow. To get more leads your website needs to be fast, and should have a structure that is easy to understand. Some of the common mistakes can be:
 A good majority of small business websites are not up-to-date. Non-updated websites are very common. The main reason for this is that a website requires to be redesigned and updated often. As web developing is advancing day by day, it is required to regularly maintain and upgrade a website. The best way to update your website is by having a blog, where you can post updated information about events and happenings. Following are some questions that you should ask to check if your website is outdated or needs updates:
 ![Website Designer Near Me... Serving Adams County and York County. [Thinking About Getting a New or Updated Website?]](/uploads/4/3/3/7/4337168/get-a-new-website-design-web-designer_orig.jpg) A well-designed and perfectly functioning website says a lot about your company. Think of it as your business’ wardrobe. If it’s outdated, then potential clients will automatically assume that your business is as well. This assumption is based on the thought that businesses who don’t care to update their website are less likely to update their policies.
Millions of small businesses and global corporations work tirelessly to keep their website updated, attractive, and relevant. Below are a few of the signs that it’s time to hire a website designer and get your website up-to-date. If your current site has any of these issues, you may be in need of a website update.
Are you ready to start your website redesign? Our local web designers are fully prepared to build you a well-designed, responsive, and unique website! Reach out to Crawford Designs of Gettysburg, PA TODAY. We’d love to schedule a coffee with you and get the conversation started! Click here to choose the time that works best for you - for your FREE consultation. Let's talk about where you are today, and where you want to be!  [business website] A creative web design is an important investment. The internet is an important medium of communication. This explains why local businesses are thriving to have in place a properly designed website. Many of the businesses are striving to have in place an online presence through efficient business website design. Furthermore, businesses that are planning to start their operations consider a website as part and parcel of their business strategy. The reasons for considering a creative website design include:
 The phrase 'search presents a unique opportunity for businesses' has become a cliché. You will hear everybody talking about it, but no one will ever tell you how you can leverage on those opportunities to see actual gains that can drive the growth of your business.
Leveraging a search engine can be harder for small companies which other than their lack of finances, they may also harbor misconceptions. However, this should not be the case. Startups can wrestle with fortune 500 companies for a piece of the cake. All they need to do is take steps to employ some top SEO strategies, and they will stand a chance. So what are these strategies? 1. Reviews of your content Content is the driver of SEO. You have probably heard this before, but I believe stressing it is key. Search engine algorithms mainly prioritize relevance and content hence content forms the backbone of your performance on SEO. Great pieces of content often perform better on search engines. So how do you have great content? You have to employ multimedia. This is usually in the form of images, texts, and video. Purely text websites are often dull for visitors. These visitors often leave the site within a brief period hence go the website with a high bounce rate which results in it being ranked lowly by search engine algorithms. However, you can try and have your content in the multimedia form to counter this. This will break the monotony and keep your sites interesting enough such that visitors often stay in them for more extended periods. Subsequently, search engines will rank them highly. Your content should also have a call to action. It can be in the form of convincing customers to pay or even to leave a review. You should encourage reviews to boost your SEO. Many people often want to find out how past clients rated your business before spending on it. Excellent business reviews often translate to reliability and authority. When people find these excellent reviews, then they are likely to spend on you. Similarly, search engines usually rate sites with excellent reviews highly as this is seen as a show of authority and your social proof. You should continuously seek to improve yourself based on the reviews. Your content should also reflect what I like to call the four pillars of high material. It should be convincing, informative, educational and entertaining. Once you ensure that your content meets these, then you can say you have started your journey to SEO success. 2. Know your audience Several SEO campaigns often struggle due to the absence of this. Unless you have a clear understanding of who you are targeting, you will employ general strategies which may not be as effective as customized strategies. Not knowing who your audience is will likely make your efforts futile or not as useful. Thankfully, today there are so many tools out there that can help you identify who your target audience is. You should seek to find one that works for you. For example, try the Google Search Console to help you know what your customers are looking for and Bing's Keyword Research tool to help you understand the words in their search queries. 3. Do great web design It is essential that you focus on this. The way you design your websites can have a significant say on whether you will be successful or you will struggle in search engines. Effectively developing your site can lead you to success. Here are simple strategies you can adopt in your web design to help you be successful on search.
4. Use analytics and tools Analytics plays a key role in measuring the effectiveness of any campaign. For this reason, the metrics and information they provide offer a key indicator of what is working and what needs changing. Similarly, tools can be a great asset to you and your website. They can help you respond to customers within a short period, manage your sites and even schedule posts among other. Google has a wide variety of analytics and tools that you can utilize to help your business as well. One of the most useful applications is Google My Business. This allows you to put your business on the map and attract more local search results. If you don't have a physical location, but you still want to use Google My Business, setting up a virtual office can help you attract the local search results you are missing out on. 5. Promote your content It is significant that once you are up and running on a search engine, you promote your content. This can be done in the form of advertising your sites in other platforms like social media platforms. This will help push your site's traffic. Link your websites to your social media platforms, and you will be surprised by the truck originating from your social media. Search engines can be a great avenue to generate leads. While these strategies can work for some, for others it might take time and require a little twitching. All you have to do is be patient and try new things until you find what works for you.  The success of business mostly depends on its ability to provide excellent customer service. In today’s competitive world, the way you treat your clients dictates how much activity you will have. Many companies have had trouble in the customer service sector, but thankfully technology is making things easier. Here are five ways technology is changing customer service:
Giving control to the client Technology has enabled companies to empower clients. Nowadays, clients have expectations about how they should be treated. Customers have become more demanding, but technology has allowed companies to meet their expectations by all means. In the past, customers did not have a choice when they got poor customer service. The incorporation of technology has enabled clients to access a global marketplace. The moment one company offers poor customer service, the clients switch to the competitors. Since competition has become stiff, other companies are going the extra mile to provide social media customer service. Client-centric modeling A few years ago, many companies used to get away with poor customer service only because they offer superior products or services. Nowadays, clients have become wise because they can get excellent customer service and at the same time great product or service. Today, when you are running a business, offering a great customer experience is a must. Technology is encouraging key performance indicators, which is essential in creating a client-centric approach. With the help of big data and analytic information gotten from different applications, companies can quickly gain access to key performance indicators. Such knowledge helps the company to hold everybody in all positions accountable in case any client does not get superior customer service. The opening of different communication channels Now that businesses have so many ways of communicating with their clients, there is no excuse for poor communication. The good thing about having different forms of technology is that you can interact with all your clients using their preferred methods of communication. For example, the older generation prefers communicating using email and SMS. However, the young people prefer active connection using social media platforms like Whatsapp, Facebook, and Twitter, and since many clients prefer live chats, technology has also made that possible. Additionally, creating a blog for your website can help you to connect with your customers and answer common questions before they even know how to ask it. Availability Operating with a 9 to 5 customer service will make your business fall behind. Nowadays, businesses can be online for 24 hours. Therefore, if you want your business to stand out, you need to utilize this service. Companies can also be available for their clients anywhere and anytime by making use of all communication channels. Give your clients the opportunity to talk to you any time of the day. Few businesses give their customers such freedom. An excellent example of a service you can offer your clients is guest printing. As long as your client has a gadget that can connect to the internet, he or she can be able to print whatever they want from the comfort of their homes. Empathy Most clients get frustrated with the customer service they receive from most companies because they feel like the representatives do not understand their needs. The truth of the matter is that the representatives are doing their job. Fortunately, due to technology, companies can change their policies to offer their clients the empathy they need. To be able to have the edge over your competitors, try and incorporate technology into your customer service campaign.  Introduction
Launching a website is vital for any business. It’s the first step you take in making a successful site. It’s an achievement that should be celebrated. However, it’s not the time to relax. You will need to update your site for it to grow and get traffic. Consistently develop the website to improve the user’s experience. Few people launch their site as it takes up a lot of time and energy. Do not reach that far and fail. Follow the tips in this article to come up with a management plan. 1. Clean Up After Launching A website launch is an energy-sapping and time-consuming activity. Your chances of making errors are high. Take time to fix the mistakes made on your website as soon as possible. Check your site’s speed and improve the user’s experience. Enhanced speed will rank your website higher on search engines. Use GTMetrix to check your site’s current performance. You will get insights and recommendations on areas to work on. Create scheduled checks to maintain consistency in your site’s performance. Check all the images for any errors. Look at their sizes and ensure there is no duplication. Use image optimizer to compress the images before uploading them. It will increase the site’s speed. Consider the various screen sizes of your users as well. Ensure that the site will work well in all the sizes. Create XML sitemaps to enable web crawlers to check your website’s structure. A sitemap will list all the links you want to be ranked in search engines. It plays an essential role in sustaining and improving SEO. Run through the content to ensure it is optimized for search engines. A website crawler such as the Screaming Frog's SEO Spider will analyze your entire website at once. Screaming Frog crawls the whole website and interprets the results to give you useful insights. It also highlights the SEO challenges your site is facing. 2. Come Up With Marketing Strategies Just as a business needs to increase demand to succeed, so does a website need to increase traffic. You need to sustain the traffic you created from the launch. There are several marketing methods available to aid in increasing traffic. Find out where your audience hangs out and select the ways that will suit them. For example, ask your customers to leave reviews on different sites and in different places like Google Reviews. The people who look at Google Reviews will see what they said and will come to your website to check out your business. Create a big following on social media and direct them to your website. Come up with value-adding content, get a professional bio, use hashtags, engage with other users and ensure your content is shareable. These tips will increase your social media followers. It may take time to build a following, but it is useful for marketing. You can also get your visitor’s email address and use the platform to sell your products and services. Use keywords related to your business to optimize on search engines. When potential customers search for solutions that your company provides, they will be directed to your website. Maximize on these keywords to ensure your website ranks higher in search engines. Make your site as visible as possible to increase traffic. You can also set up ads on other online platforms to direct traffic to your site whenever a user clicks on the ad. However, improve your website before using this method so that you can maximize on the traffic you receive. 3. Maintenance and Protection A maintenance plan is vital in minimizing the risk of breakdown and hacking. Get a plan and stick to it to stay at the top of your game. For instance, get a secure location to backup your content. Backing up will depend on the number of times you update your site. Update your themes and plugins to avoid being vulnerable. Your database is like a library. After some time, it will be disorganized. Run a database sweep to keep it organized. Use security measures to ensure your data is always safe. A complex password will make it hard for hackers to access your site. Reset your password on a regular basis to increase your site’s safety. You may also consider using a firewall. It will protect your site from hackers and malicious attacks. Use it to protect the login and administration areas of your site. Consider installing plugins to limit the number of login attempts. Conclusion A management plan will help you track and take control of your website’s growth. Use the tips above and enjoy the journey to success. References: Convince & Convert | 6 Simple Steps to Improve User Experience Big Leap | The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Using Screaming Frog Smart Passive Income | How to Launch a Brand New Website (With a Bang!) Podium | Google Reviews Explained  Whether you are a professional marketer or an entrepreneur, you must use the best strategies to succeed in marketing. If you run a small business, proper marketing of your goods or services will create awareness and boost sales. Apart from creating an attractive website for your business, you need to use modern marketing tools to connect your business with the right audience. Using the right advertising tools will help you create a positive corporate image. Once your company gains an excellent reputation, customers will become loyal to your brand. The achievement will assist you to outshine your competitors in the business world. This article provides 5 essential marketing tools that you need to consider for your business.
1. Buzzsumo Founders: Henley Wing, James Blackwell Buzzsumo is a supportive online marketing tool used by thousands of small and mid-sized businesses in the world. You can use the app to grow your business and find the right influencers. Additionally, it will evaluate your competition and help you study social media trends, which will enable you to use the right marketing strategies to outperform your competitors. Using Buzzsumo, you can easily share your content with the right audience and view what your competitors are posting on social media and other sites. 2. Hootsuite Founders: Dario Meli, David Tedman, Ryan Holmes This is a perfect marketing tool that will allow you to schedule posts on various sites, including social media platforms. You can use the tool to schedule as many posts as you can, which will boost your marketing campaigns. 3. Womply Founders: Jeremy Richardson, Toby Scammell As a businessperson, engaging your customers online is an essential thing that you need to consider. Womply is the best software that will connect your business with your online customers. You will be able to answer their queries in real-time, which will boost customer loyalty and sales. 4. Biteable Founders: James MacGregor, Simon Westlake, Tommy Fotak Biteable will assist you to create and post exciting videos about your products or services on your social media accounts. For instance, you can use it to post an informative video demonstrating how to use a particular product. Visuals are engaging and attractive to customers. They will influence their buying decisions. 5. Trello Founders: Joel Spolsky, Michael Pryor Trello is a fantastic tool that will help you and your team to manage your marketing projects efficiently. For instance, before posting any advert on your social media accounts, you should post it on Trello for your team to see. The team will review the post and highlight critical areas that require changes. This process will save you time and strengthen your posts before posting them on social media. Additionally, your customers will trust you because of sharing informative posts regularly. As a marketer or businessperson, you should utilize the above marketing tools to improve your business. They will save you time and connect your business with loyal customers from home and abroad. Need more customers? We help businesses generate more leads and sales with internet marketing! |
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